33 replies to this topic

[bartfull]

Google "feed lots in America", but only if you have a strong stomach and don't mind the nightmares you will get tonight. I guarantee you'll never buy grocery store beef again.

[mamaw]

Yes, it is cool to be able to pick your own beef... I do go to the pasture & usually pick three & tell them to take one when I'm not there !!!!I just couldn't mark one specific for me... I wouldn''t be able to eat it!! I just place my fall order for a Scotthish Highlander & these guys are so cute * gentle---- I didn't pick myself....
I could turn anything into a pet so it's hard for me....

When we were kids we used to jump out of the second story of the barn into a hay pile--- so much fun until my girlfriend jumped & a black snake was in the hay & bit her in the eye.. Man, we got out of there fast, screaming all the way to the house. Luckily she /eye got better & no permanent damage.... that ended our jumping into a hay pile forever.....

[JNBunnie1]

Yes, it is cool to be able to pick your own beef... I do go to the pasture & usually pick three & tell them to take one when I'm not there !!!!I just couldn't mark one specific for me... I wouldn''t be able to eat it!! I just place my fall order for a Scotthish Highlander & these guys are so cute * gentle---- I didn't pick myself....
I could turn anything into a pet so it's hard for me....

When we were kids we used to jump out of the second story of the barn into a hay pile--- so much fun until my girlfriend jumped & a black snake was in the hay & bit her in the eye.. Man, we got out of there fast, screaming all the way to the house. Luckily she /eye got better & no permanent damage.... that ended our jumping into a hay pile forever.....

Well I'D be traumatized!!!

[Adalaide]

I stepped on a snake in my bear feet in our daffodil patch. To this day I still have panic attacks from snakes. Even a picture online is enough to get my blood pressure up and my heart racing. Rubber snake at the toy store? Panic attack and assurances from friends that no one needs to call 911. I can't even imagine the trauma of being bitten... in the eye. Omg, the thought is enough to make me shudder. For real, I shuddered when I read that.

That's cute though how you pick out a few and you're like uh... one of them is probably good. If I hadn't grown up on a cattle farm where cows are food I'm not sure I could do it. I bottle fed and saved the runt of a litter of pigs. For a whole winter after we butchered I wouldn't eat bacon or ham lest I eat my beloved animal. For some reason though I just couldn't keep myself away from the scrapple. Yum!!!

[Lisa]

It isn't for everyone to see the living animal and know it will be slaughtered, at your request, for your dinner table.

Um...that would be me. There are just certain things that I just don't need to know.

[psawyer]

I stepped on a snake in my bear feet in our daffodil patch.

So, is there a lot of fur on your bear feet? Does the bear regret that you have them?

Seriously, though, that would unnerve me.

[shadowicewolf]

Oh really? :3 When i lived in FL we had this gaint king snake that used to hang around (black and could easily stretch the width of the drive way). It also liked to look into the kitchen window. One day i was going in the back yard where we had one of those small pools set up. I ended up jumping over the bloody thing. Not agressive at all. It also kept all the poisonus ones away (we used to have some show up and chase us).

[mushroom]

When I came to the U.S. (from a non-snake country - yep, St. Patrick visited NZ too) I was scared sh*tless of snakes. On our drive across country (I was a non-driver then) hubs pulled over in Nevada for 40 winks and I was afraid to get out of the car, seeing snakes and scorpions, and tarantulas too, under every sagebush. It was only when a yucky bug flew in that I set foot on Nevada soil . However, after 40 odd years in CA I developed a tolerance. I recall one beautiful snake in our back yard, moving at top speed (and that was fast), which I subsequently identified as a San Francisco racer - he had an incredible turquoise belly. And then there was the gopher snake who used to coil himself around one of my rose bushes waiting for..... well, birds it would appear; scared me into the following week when I watered him once

[megsybeth]

I think there are lots of things to factor in when buying food for your family. I just wanted to throw out there with regard to the feed of the cattle, are you worried about them eating wheat grain? As far as I know, cattle is only usually fed corn and soybeans. When I have the resources and the access I like to get organic meat for my family but I don't think the feed of cattle should influence the gluten-free diet.

[mushroom]

I don't think, for me, it is the feed, since I eat pigs that are fed goodness knows what! I believe for me it is the hormones and antibiotics that go along with feed lot raising that causes me to be a total wired insomniac after eating regular beef.

[T.H.]

In the USA (not sure elsewhere), you'll see two labels for grass fed beef. '100% grass fed beef' and 'grass fed beef.'

100% means the cow was fed AND finished on grass. A simple 'grass fed' usually means it was grass fed but the feed may have been supplemented with grains, or the cow was finished on grains.

Organic means that even if it WAS finished on grains, they weren't genetically modified grains. If it's not organic, some of the grain is almost guaranteed to have been genetically modified, at least in the USA.

Although I'd have to say that according to research, there actually is a difference between meat that has been grass fed and finished vs. grain fed. Grass fed is actually healthier for people to eat. Researchers have done numerous studies on it, actually. Below is one that looked over a lot of previous research to see what conclusions could be drawn.

"...Research spanning three decades supports the argument that grass-fed beef (on a g/g fat basis), has a more desirable SFA lipid profile (more C18:0 cholesterol neutral SFA and less C14:0 & C16:0 cholesterol elevating SFAs) as compared to grain-fed beef. Grass-finished beef is also higher in total CLA (C18:2) isomers, TVA (C18:1 t11) and n-3 FAs on a g/g fat basis. This results in a better n-6:n-3 ratio that is preferred by the nutritional community. Grass-fed beef is also higher in precursors for Vitamin A and E and cancer fighting antioxidants such as GT and SOD activity as compared to grain-fed contemporaries.

Grass-fed beef tends to be lower in overall fat content, an important consideration for those consumers interested in decreasing overall fat consumption. Because of these differences in FA content, grass-fed beef also possesses a distinct grass flavor and unique cooking qualities that should be considered when making the transition from grain-fed beef. To maximize the favorable lipid profile and to guarantee the elevated antioxidant content, animals should be finished on 100% grass or pasture-based diets."
from http://www.nutrition.../content/9/1/10


So...grass fed seems to be the healthier way to go. If you can afford it because wow is it expensive!

[mushroom]

Whole Foods has introduced a new grading system for their organic beef 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I didn't have time to stop and read it all but only 5 means it hasn't had any grains and is entirely grass-fed (and they didn't have any). Hubs had bought me some Whole Foods beef and insisted it was grass fed, but it must have been a 4 (mostly raised on grass, I believe) because I was awake all night.

[bartfull]

I am so lucky to live where the buffalo roam. The bison I get here was raised in either the National Park right up the road, or the State Park a little further up the road. Because they can't let the herds get too big, every year they round them up and sell some of them. The meat locker a few blocks away always buys enough to be able to sell it all year. All of these bison are 100% grass fed and no hormone or antibiotic injections either. And SO yummy!

[mushroom]

I had a bison steak last night (have to get it from Wal-Mart now, they bought up the supply - TJ's can't get it) and it was pretty tough. Next time it's ground and seasoned (by me of course).

[bartfull]

Bison steaks have to be cooked S-L-O-W-L-Y, and should always be cooked rare. The first time I had a bison steak, the gormet cook ignored that advice, claiming that if he seared it at a really high temp and then turned the heat down, it would "seal in the juices". It was barely edible.

But grinding and seasoning your own sounds good too. Quite often people ADD fat to their ground bison because it is so darned lean. But of course they add contaminated beef fat so what's the point? I imagine you could pour a little coconut oil in with it, or if you eat bacon, some bacon fat but either way, remember to cook it on a low heat so it cooks slowly, and cook it rare, or at least medium. Well done is OK if you are trying to make hockey pucks.